Methods of encoding human speech are well known. One method uses letters of an alphabet to encode human speech in the form of textual information. Such textual information may be encoded onto paper using a contrasting ink or it may be encoded onto a variety of other mediums. For example, human speech may first be encoded under a textual format, converted into an ASCII format and stored on a computer as binary information.
The encoding of textual information, in general, is a relatively efficient process. However, textual information often fails to capture the entire content or meaning of speech. For example, the phrase "Get out of my way" may be interpreted as either a request or a threat. Where the phase is recorded as textual information, the reader would, in most cases, not have enough information to discern the meaning conveyed.
However, if the phrase "get out of my way" were heard directly from the speaker, the listener would probably be able to determine which meaning was intended. For example, if the words were spoken in a loud manner, the volume would probably impart threat to the words. Conversely, if the words were spoken softly, the volume would probably impart the context of a request to the listener.
Unfortunately, verbal clues can only be captured by recording the spectral content of speech. Recording of the spectral content, however, is relatively inefficient because of the bandwidth required. Because of the importance of speech, a need exists for a method of recording speech which is textual in nature, but which also captures verbal clues.